Relationship Between PCOS And Diabetes In Women

Reports state that nearly 50 per cent of the women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, shortly called as PCOS are developing pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes before they reach the age of 40 years. Even though, the reasons for this correlation was not known, in a recent study, it was found the inflammation associated with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is the reason behind the increased risk of diabetes in women. When a woman with this issue, identifies how this condition can lead to diabetes, she can take steps to identify diabetes early and even, she can look for ways to intervene as well.

Food consumption:

Food consumption is known to cause a sharp increase in the level of glucose in the blood. This is absorbed by the body with the help of insulin. Insulin is produced by the beta cells in the pancreas and it gets released in two phases. The first phase happens just after food consumption, during which insulin that is stored in the cells is released and later after a few hours, when newly synthesized insulin is released during the second phase. When the body is not able to secrete insulin, it will lead to high blood glucose level.

What happens in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?

In the case of women with this issue, the blood-glucose level increases after food consumption like others and this stimulates the immune cells to stimulate inflammatory responses. This will not happen in women without this health issue. The process of inflammation will impede the action of insulin. This in turn will lead to insulin resistance and women with this condition will automatically develop type 2 diabetes. Even, studies suggest that the inflammation can also disturb the insulin secretion directly as well. In addition, women with this condition are known to have poor beta cell functioning in the body, which can also contribute towards diabetes.

Measurement by researchers:

When researchers measure glucose-stimulated release of insulin in women with Polycystic Ovary, it was found that women, who are obese with this condition, are at greater chances as compared to lean women with this issue. However, it cannot be said that lean women with this issue will never get diabetes. The reason is that both slimy and fatty women with this condition had more stimulation of inflammatory responses as compared to lean women without this ovary issue. The researchers concluded that for women with this issue, the beta cell function became more affected as the pathway of the inflammation become more active in them. They further added that their findings need for further investigation for determination of the process by which inflammation interacts with pancreatic beta cells for increasing the risk of diabetes in patients with PCOS.

So, even though, the reports are not fully confirming the relationship, nearly 50% of women with this issue get diabetes. So, women with this health issue should take steps to keep themselves away from type 2 diabetes and they can talk to their doctor about the actions to be taken in this regard.